Theodore Korcz and William Dowdell Denson crop

William Denson (May 31, 1913 – December 13, 1998) was an American lawyer and military prosecutor who served as Chief Prosecutor in the trials of war criminals of Nazi concentration camps. Denson was born on May 31, 1913, in Birmingham. Alabama. He was the grandson of William Henry Denson, a prominent local lawyer and politician. He attended United States Military Academy at West Point, graduating in 1934. He resigned from the army the same year to attend

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

, from which he graduated in 1937. In 1942, he returned to the army to teach law at West Point. In January 1945, he was transferred to the United States Army Central in Munich, Germany, as a judge advocate, where he was assigned to lead the investigation and prosecution of war crimes committed at Nazi concentration camps. Denson served as Chief Prosecutor at trials for the concentration camps at

Dachau , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...

, Mauthausen, Flossenbürg and Buchenwald. During this time, he led the prosecution of 177 people and secured convictions of 174, of whom 132 were sentenced to death. Denson was instrumental in deciding not to prosecute the camp staff for

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...

as was happening in the concurrent Nuremberg trials, but rather under existing German law, specifically Germany's obligations as signatories to the Hague Conventions and first and third Geneva Conventions. He reasoned that the evidence for war crimes committed by camp staff against

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

was more than sufficient to secure convictions and that concentrating on this would minimize the risks of convictions being overturned on appeal. After the trials concluded in 1947, Denson returned to the United States, where he entered private practice as chief of litigation for the newly created Atomic Energy Commission. In 1950, he represented the Commission in the trials of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. In 1952, he moved to New York City, where he transitioned into patent law. From 1966 to 1976, he was mayor of Lawrence,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. In 1950, Denson married Constance von Francken-Sierstorpff, whom he had met during his time in Germany.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Denson, William 1913 births 1998 deaths American anti-fascists American prosecutors Dachau trials Mayors of places in New York (state) Harvard Law School alumni United States Military Academy alumni People from Birmingham, Alabama